Author: Frank Gormlie

A large protest against Trump immigration policies was held in National City Friday afternoon. Hundreds of people jammed National Avenue — and an eventual street take-over resulted in teargas being used by police after it was called an “illegal protest.”

Starting out as a peaceful protest, the demonstration quickly grew in size, as Highland Avenue was swarmed with people.

“I see a lot of youth which I’m happy to see here that are out here supporting. I see a lot of families with kids. I see a lot of older people as well,” said Violet, an immigration activist.

The climate emergency has led to dramatic changes for Alaska fish and wildlife and for the subsistence-based communities of the Arctic who depend on these creatures for their survival.

By David Helvarg / Common Dreams / Jan 22, 2025 

In early January, as one of his last acts in office, former U.S. President Joe Biden banned future offshore oil and gas drilling on more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters including the entire East Coast, West Coast, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico as well as the northern Bering Sea.

He did this using presidential powers granted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which in 2019 a federal judge in Alaska ruled cannot be rescinded by a future president. This means, despite his day one executive order reversing Biden’s order, President Donald Trump will likely have to get Congress to pass legislation negating this drilling ban.

There was such intense pushback from everywhere across the country in reaction to Trump’s very recent dictatorial powergrab in his federal funds freeze that was clearly so unconstitutional (only Congress has the power of the purse), that today the White House had to rescind the edict.

Yet, in the meantime, the order created chaos and confusion in every governmental and public-serving agency. And San Diego was no different. Even ICE funds were frozen.

Axios San Diego laid out some of the local effects and consequences of the freeze — see below. And while ICE agents began to make their rounds in San Diego County and arrested some immigrants, the El Cajon City Council failed to endorse rightwing mayor Bill Wells’ controversial motion.

On Monday, January 27, the San Diego City Council voted in closed session to select a development team to convert the infamous 101 Ash St. office tower into what’s being proposed as “hundreds of subsidized apartments.”

The companies Create Dev LLC and MRK Partners Inc. were chosen to redo the asbestos-ridden building and civic blunder into a potential downtown housing success project.

End of story? Not exactly. This is San Diego.

It just so happens that Create Dev is run by the head of the San Diego Planning Commission, Kelly Moden. The person who chairs the Commission was just chosen to head up the make-over of one of the most controversial of the city’s recent real estate deals. Moden was appointed a year ago by Mayor Todd Gloria.

An Open Letter to Dr. Mark Stetter, Dean of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Regarding the Million Cat Challenge and Community Cat Programs
 
By Ed Boks / Jan 27, 2025

Dear Dr. Stetter,

Since its launch in 2014, the Million Cat Challenge—spearheaded by the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP) and the University of Florida Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program—has sought to revolutionize shelter practices across North America. With its ambitious goal of saving one million cats through strategies like Community Cat and Return-To-Field (RTF) programs, the Challenge has been celebrated for achieving significant milestones.

However, a recent legal ruling in San Diego found aspects of these programs in violation of California’s animal protection laws, raising serious questions about their implementation and impact on animal welfare.

Downtown Julian. Amazing.

Snow at Mt Laguna — 8:15 am January 26, 2025

Cal Fire crews are battling a brush fire that erupted on Otay Mountain Thursday afternoon, with evacuation orders and warnings in place for surrounding areas.

The “Border 2 Fire” as of 11:45 a.m. Friday was at 5,389 acres, “with long range spotting and extreme fire behavior.” Fire officials said the blaze was at 10% containment. It was first reported after 2:15 p.m. in the area of Otay Mountain Truck Trail in the Otay Wilderness Area. The fire jumped from 350 to over 500 acres within a half hour at one point.

Cal Fire issued an evacuation order for residents who live in the red shaded areas shown in the maps below. This means that there is an immediate threat and “you need to leave.” An evacuation warning has also been issued for the areas in yellow. Officials said, “Be prepared to evacuate should conditions change. If you feel you are in danger, go!”

By Paul Krueger

A passionate revolt against the Mayor and City Council’s “Bonus ADU” program is gaining momentum in the Encanto area of Council District 4 as well as in the Chollas and Emerald Hills communities, and basically throughout the district. The revolt is being led by Neighbors for Encanto.

The area is being targeted by developers who are buying up large single family lots and building — or planning to build up to 42 ADUs on a single parcel, with no parking, no added infrastructure, and — equally important — no approval, input, or feedback from neighbors and residents.

Organizers have identified 11 of these projects in the area and in response have crafted their own website — bonusadubadforsd.com and placing pallet-sized signs throughout the neighborhood. Some of those signs have been repeatedly defaced which I witnessed myself on Monday.

There’s two important political angles to this revolt.

The owner of a 3-level home designed by renowned San Diego architect, Robert Quigley, has placed the property on the market. It’s called “the OB del House” and the building sits off an alley in the 4600 block of Del Monte Avenue in Ocean Beach.

It has 3-bedrooms, 2 1/4-baths in 2,113 sq. ft. on a 7,000 square foot lot. The seller / realtor offers the building in glowing terms, naturally: